The Kinks have been my favorite band since 1966 and "Face to Face" (the album that preceded "Something Else"). And even though you got here from a different route (and a different time), your experience of the song matches mine exactly. ("Waterloo Sunset" is probably the favoritest song of Kinks fans over the years.)

Their best album in my opinion is "Village Green Preservation Society." As a single (but very complex and often self-contradictory) statement, it's one of the great achievements of the rock era. (Anemoia is actually the subject of that album, and the final vision--"People Take Pictures"--is far less positive about nostalgia than most people realize.)

Great essay.